Umicore FIRST LOOK: Update on cost savings and management changes

Umicore has announced some leadership changes within its management team whilst also disclosing the ambition for € 40m additional cost savings and the decision to continue to pause construction of its Canadian Battery Materials plant. We are still awaiting the outcome of the ongoing strategy review for the Battery Materials business. We remind that we have already taken a more cautious approach with our FY30 CAM volume estimate at 200 GWh, which compares to the previous company target of 400 GWh and the previous order book of 270 GWh. We do expect Umicore to continue to invest in Battery Materials, albeit at a much lowered pace, and see room for NMC outside of China on the back of sustainability, geopolitical and security of supply reasons. As such we expect vehicle electrification to remain an important LT growth theme for Umicore. In the shorter term, the increase of gold and silver prices are definitely a positive for the Recycling operations, although a significant part of exposure is hedged. We maintain our Accumulate rating and € 14 target price.